Scoutmaster's long service merits salute

JEFF FRANK - Staff WriterEditor's Note: North County is filled with people who volunteer their time to help others. This is the story of one of those volunteers.

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ESCONDIDO —— Nobody will ever be able to say that Roy "Pat"
Archer isn't committed to the things he does.

He spent 40 years as a political science professor at Palomar
College before retiring in 2003. But a considerable amount of his
teaching has taken place not in a classroom, but at campouts, canoe
trips and on hiking trails as a Boy Scout leader.

Archer, 71, has served as scoutmaster for Troop 649 since 1977,
an extraordinarily long tenure in a position in which adult leaders
tend to be the parents of members of the troop. Archer's two sons
aged out of scouting long ago, but he carries on in passing along
the tradition of scouting to young boys.

"Boy Scouting is the best program to teach boys
responsibilities, skills and how to live with their peers," said
Archer. "Confucianism says that the best job you can have is being
a teacher. A Boy Scout leader is a teacher providing service to the
community."

That service goes back to well before his Troop 649 connection.Archer became a Boy Scout at age 12 and an Eagle Scout five yearslater. He worked at scout camps and while in the Army, served asBoy Scout district commissioner for the Fort Dix, N.J. area.

After moving to Escondido, he worked with Cub Scout Pack 663
when his sons reached that age, serving seven years as cubmaster.
He moved to Troop 649 when his sons became Boy Scouts.

He takes pride in calling Troop 649, which meets every Thursday
at Hidden Valley Christian Church, "the most active troop in North
County." During his years as scoutmaster, 92 troop members have
become Eagle Scouts. Archer looks forward to that number reaching
100.

"My most significant accomplishment will be having 100 boys
achieve the rank of Eagle," he said.

Troop 649 alumni have attended West Point and the Naval, Air
Force and Coast Guard academies. Former scouts have become doctors,
lawyers, teachers and police officers, among other professions.

One troop graduate is Lt. Bob Benton, patrol watch commander for
the Escondido Police Department, whose two brothers and he all
became Eagle Scouts.

"It's unbelievable the dedication he used to give, not only
weekly meetings, but patrol meetings at his house almost every
night," said Benton. "On weekends, he would be scouring yard sales
for camping equipment and sleeping bags that he could provide for
the troop."

While boys could sometimes be boys, Benton added that he never
saw Archer lose his temper.

"He led by example. What sets him apart is his passion for being
a mentor, to raise boys the way he thought they should be raised,"
Benton said.

That leadership is reflected in the numerous awards the troop
claims at district camporees and other events and by Archer's
nomination to receive the Silver Beaver Award, the highest honor a
local volunteer can receive.

"It's an exceptional troop," said Sean Roy, director of field
service for the San-Diego-Imperial Council for Boy Scouts of
America. "They are just very well run. They follow the scouting
tradition and always do well at district events."

Roy is quite impressed with Archer's longevity as a
scoutmaster.

"To be a scoutmaster for that long is virtually unheard of. It's
a huge responsibility," he said. "Most folks get in when their sons
are scout age and stay till they leave, maybe four or five years.
Twenty-eight years is just amazing."

Young boys like to be kept busy and need to spend time with
their fathers, said Archer, who has pressed countless dads into
service as assistant scoutmasters over the years. Currently, the
troop has 43.

The troop goes camping every month, canoes the Colorado River
each summer, hikes the Grand Canyon every two years and takes a
monthlong trip east every four years to explore historic sites and
to attend the national Boy Scout Jamboree, a trip that Archer
instituted.

"I am humbled by his commitment," said Randy Jungman, a former
Troop 149 assistant scoutmaster now on the San Diego-Imperial
Council executive board. "I've stepped up to serve at different
levels, but he just stays there in the trenches. He stays connected
to the boys and their parents to make the best program
possible."

Archer has no plans to step aside anytime soon. He's got that
100 Eagle Scouts milestone he wants to reach, and an even bigger
one in the distance.